Logan Circle
Logan Circle is a neighborhood in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. It lies six blocks east of Dupont Circle. The traffic circle is the intersection of 13th Street, P Street, Rhode Island Avenue and Vermont Avenue, with a federal park in the middle. The neighborhood is bordered by S Street to the north, 9th Street to the east, 16th Street to the west, and Massachusetts Avenue to the south.
Originally called “Iowa Circle”, Logan was renamed by Congress in 1930 in honor of John A. Logan, a Civil War general and U.S. senator. At the center of the circle is a monument to Major General Logan. The circle is surrounded by many old homes, one of which belonged to the son of Ulysses S. Grant.[citation needed]
In the 2000s, the area has become gentrified and housing costs have soared (albeit from a depressed base, due to the overt drug and prostitution markets that existed in the neighborhood through the 1980s and 1990s).[citation needed] The commercial corridor along 14th Street NW is undergoing significant revitalization, and is known for its art galleries, live theater, and nightlife spots such as Halo. A watershed event in the development of the neighborhood was the opening of a busy Whole Foods Market two blocks from Logan Circle in 1999, on a site previously occupied by an abandoned parking garage.
The former home of Mary McLeod Bethune is located in Logan Circle. The circle is the setting for the 2007 novel The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu.
